what i've been up to

this is just a check in. i posted here a few years ago, when i had a job that was really boring and i sat at a computer at a desk all day. i spent a lot of time browsing this forum and learning guitar (theory) so i could apply it later at home.

then i quit that job and got a new job where i was on my feet working in a test laboratory. that was a lot of fun. i wasn't sitting in front of a computer all day so i stopped posting and reading.

anyway back then i had taken lessons on and off, was getting better but didn't really know where i was going with my music. i had been playing for 2-3 years at that time, and i think that's kind of a weird "in-between" age where i was good in some areas and not good at other areas and didn't know what i wanted to do.

well anyway, i was hanging out some some neighbors at a bar one night when they asked me about playing. i feel like i should point out that i live in a neighborhood where you see a lot of neighbors out and about. i know a lot of people that i'm not expressly "friends" with. so i knew these guys from the bars but not much outside of that.

anyway they wanted to put together a ****ty cover band. i was on board! drew had played guitar and keys for several years and has been in bands before. dan, at the time they approached me, had never played bass before in his life. and we didn't have a drummer.

fast forward ~6 months later. we have a drummer (who also lives in the neighborhood), and we had a place to practice. but then we got kicked out (it was an unfurnished house that our drummer's uncle owned, but we couldn't play there anymore).

so we found this really cool studio in downtown st louis. and i'm really impressed with this setup. it's $15/hour. for four people, that's pretty cheap (the $1 PBRs don't hurt, either). hah i think i forgot to mention that the reason i'm back posting is because i got laid off recently so money is tight for a few months.

anyway we're practicing in this studio a few times a week which is awesome becuase there are other bands around, and you can hear them and they're way better than us, so it's just cool to be around other musicians in that type of setting.

i was seriously shocked at how cheap the studio time is. and the location is great because we all live in downtown neighborhoods so it's only a 5 minute drive.

so part of this is to brag, part of this is to tell about what i've been up to over the last 2 years of absence, part of it is to recommend looking into studio time if you need a place to play because i had no idea it would be so affordable (this was not the only studio we looked at; all had competititive prices. plus they include a PA and microphones!).

and finally part of it is to just reinforce to anyone starting out that if you do keep with it, you can get to a place where you are impressed with what you've done. if that makes sense? 2 years ago i was posting on forums and taking lessons, 6 months ago i was just playing at home playing along to my favorite bands on CD, and now i'm playing in a studio with four neighbors who've now become regular friends.

plus we almost accidentally wrote our first song last night...!

anyway i see that btimm is getting into a lot of recording that is also pretty cool because from what i remember, him and i are about the same age and same level of experience.



-my bandmates, rocking out in the studio (of course i'm not pictured, because i'm taking the picture)

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
AMEN!!!!
&
RAWK!

Nice to see someone with a real human BAND !! Too many folks seem far too content w/ back tracks and other PC-generated crap these dark days!
So may the GAWDS of RAWK be with you , lol ..no REALLY
(and God i remember that PBR)
...its a mean road but its worth every mile, every PBR every Waffle-House, and even the fights over who gets to sit on the Kick for 2 hrs...

Play it(club venue etc) like ya own it

RAWK!
Cs

i actually do enjoy the PC generated crap and back tracks! sleigh bells, the kills, yeah yeah yeahs... i love it all! but i understand the sentiment.

Yeah .. could have phrased that better, especially with an 'electronica'(w/ live stuff) CD out LOL
and i love too many types of music to list
and i use back tracks w/ my students and myself...

what i missed the mark on was (just so no-one gets me wrong)

Back-Tracks are fun and helpful BUT they in no way at all come close to the experience/learning/pride-etc of making music LIVE with human drummers, bassists etc...

and a beer soaked stage in , er, say, Austin, at three a.m. with your band, exhausted, but loading the van... Headed for San Antonio, well
That will do more for ya than damn near anything i can think of, as bands, musicians, are forged 'by fire", hardship, the will to carry on... the will to RAWK!


RAWK!
Cs

Nice gx! Glad to see you back and posting, don't be a stranger.

Hello to you gx1327. :)

well i guess i'm getting the full "being in a band experience" because i got *ing KICKED OUT last night!!! of a band that i started! for fun! by the guy who missed more practices than he attended last month! and hasn't learned any of the songs on our list of songs to learn! he kicked me out because he thought i was holding them back! of all the....

seriously this happened last night i'm still absolutely irate about it. but hey i guess this is what it's like to be in a band, right?

How can that dude have more pull than the others? Talk to the other dudes in the band and kick HIM out.

That's weird. Clearly that guy's ego doesn't fit in the jam space. Kick him out, back. Or, start a new ego-less band.
I've never been booted out of a band, but I can imagine that it's frustrating.
There's always someone else to play with. Keep that in mind.

That happened to me once. It was 30 years ago though! Looking back, I wasnt as good as they were and they changed me out for another guitarist that was better. They didn't last another month. But I get your point. I started this band for fun with my friends then they kick me out because they want to be more serious? We laugh about it today.